


Honey Bee Mine

by jadztone



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Retirementlock, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 18:49:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17792789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadztone/pseuds/jadztone
Summary: For many years, Sherlock refused to let such sentimental nonsense as Valentine's Day interfere with The Work.  Now that he's retired, he might be okay with it.  A little.  John steps up.





	Honey Bee Mine

John meandered through the tiny aisles of the shop looking for tea.  When he rounded the corner, he saw Sherlock eyeing the Valentine’s Day display.  When Sherlock saw him, he turned slightly towards a shelf lined with jars of baby food.  John went up to him and raised his eyebrows.  Sherlock muttered, “Experiment,” and tossed one of the tiny jars into John’s shopping basket. 

As Sherlock drove the short distance back to their little cottage, John stared in contented silence out the window.  Though Sherlock was also silent, John could almost hear the thoughts churning inside his head as he tried to decide whether to fess up.  John could have placed a bet and won on how long it would take before Sherlock blurted out, “Alright, _fine_.  I admit I don’t think Valentine’s Day is as rubbish as I’ve made it out to be all these years.” He jerked the wheel slightly too hard as he turned into the drive. 

As intimately as John knew Sherlock, this actually came as a bit of a surprise.  Many of Sherlock’s ideas and beliefs were difficult to understand, but his derision of Valentine’s Day wasn’t one of them.  It was perfectly reasonable to be cynical about it, or at least John thought.  But now Sherlock was saying otherwise?  “If you wanted to celebrate, why didn’t you ever say anything?  You know I would have indulged you.”

Sherlock rolled his eyes as he parked.  “Because of The Work.  It was distracting enough being in love with you.  And the sex was _really_ distracting.  The last thing I wanted was to add in romantic…what do you call it?  Shmoop?  I drew the line.”

John nodded slowly, and then got out of the car, grabbing the shopping bag from the boot before heading for the door.  “So now that we’re retired from The Work…?”

Sherlock didn’t say anything until they were in the kitchen putting away the shopping.  “Now…well, I’ve been letting down my guard in many ways since we’ve moved here.”

John went over to him and squeezed his shoulder, moving his hand up to tangle in Sherlock’s greying curls.  “I could tell.  You don’t carry that same stiffness in your shoulders.  It suits you.”

Sherlock gave him a warm smile.  “I just realised earlier when I was looking at that garish display that maybe now it wouldn’t be so bad to be…romanced.  Not with tedious red roses and pink hearts…” he wrinkled his nose.  “But something a little bit…shmoopy…wouldn’t be amiss.”  He bit his lip and looked at John from beneath his lashes. 

John’s lips slowly curved into a grin.  Sherlock would never stop being amazing and adorable at the same time.  “Well, I’ll just have to see what I can do, love.”  He leaned up for a soft kiss.

*

The morning of Valentine’s Day, Sherlock woke up to see a vase next to the bed with a wide array of flowers.  They were all pink and red, but none of them were roses.  Instead, they represented some of the flowers that Sherlock was intending to plant in their garden for the bees.  Allium, foxgloves, hollyhock, bee balm, geraniums.  Not exactly an arrangement that a florist might have picked, but Sherlock was delighted by the symbolism. 

John served him breakfast in bed - scones with honey butter, strawberries and cream.  They spent the day at home.  Sherlock found he preferred the solitude these days.  Sometimes being around people made his mind race too much.  While Sherlock strategised the procurement of bee hives, John worked on doing minor repairs around the cottage that the previous owner had neglected, as well as working on something in the kitchen that smelled divine. 

When it was tea time, John revealed what it was he’d been working on: lavender and honey tea cakes.  Sherlock could tell he’d been trying to recreate the ones from the tea room that they discovered a decade ago while working a triple murder in Bexley.  It was quite far to go for tea cakes, but they made the trip every so often because Sherlock loved them.  “I called the shop and begged them for the recipe.” 

Tears pricked Sherlock’s eyes.  John clearly worked hard on them, even if they looked a bit dodgy compared to the ones in Bexley.  He hoped they weren’t rubbish.  He didn’t fancy having to lie to John.  He tried so very hard these days not to tell fibs.  He took a bite, and was relieved to find that they were delicious.  Slightly dry, but the tea would wash it down.  “Delightful, John.” 

For dinner, John recreated the dishes they ate when they had their first proper date at Angelo’s.  For dessert John presented him with a box of chocolate honey truffles.  They sat by the fire with glasses of red wine, feeding each other the chocolates.

At the end of the evening, John drew a hot bath, and they reclined in the tub as John washed Sherlock with a bar of soap made from goat’s milk and honey.  Afterward, they lay in bed, Sherlock snuggled up to John’s side.  As a final touch, John had lit some beeswax candles around the room.  “So, Sherlock, did you enjoy your Valentine’s Day?”

Sherlock mumbled, “We haven’t had sex yet, John.  Ask me after.”

John giggled, then attempted to look stern.  “How about…you might get sex if you actually pay me a compliment, you berk.”

Sherlock looked disgruntled for a moment, then gave him that smile that was reserved for him alone.  “I loved it, John.  It was the perfect way to celebrate us ushering in a new era of our life.  It pleases me enormously that you were willing to come here with me.  I know you can’t have as much enthusiasm for beekeeping as you did for crime fighting.  But today showed me that you at least…support me.”

John smiled and kissed Sherlock’s curls.  “Don’t pretend that this change in career isn’t as much for me as it was for you.  It was no coincidence that you started talking about it a few months after my operation.”  Sherlock huffed.  “All I’m saying is that this is for both of us. And all I care about is being by your side forever.”  He lifted Sherlock’s chin and gave him a long, soft kiss.

“John?”

“Mmm?”

“Do I get sex, now?”

“Yes, Sherlock.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first retirementlock fic! You can find me gushing about these lovelies at sherlock-nanowrimo.tumblr.com


End file.
